


The Ballad of Many Legs

by Judy_The_Dreamer



Series: Faerie prince Steve Rogers and his not so secretive aquatically-inclined friends [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Bathroom Sex, F/M, Faerie AU, Meet-Cute, My First Smut, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Natasha is predictably mysterious, Oral Sex, POV Bucky Barnes, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Shifter AU, Steve Rogers Has Issues, Vaginal Sex, Written for the Bucky Barnes Bingo, first is build-up, octopus!Bucky, porn is in the second part, pretty vanilla sex, seduction by way of swimming pools
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 06:36:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18441062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Judy_The_Dreamer/pseuds/Judy_The_Dreamer
Summary: Deprived of believers by the modern world, Steve Rogers is perhaps the most lacklustre earth faerie prince you’ll ever meet. Good thing he’s a man with a plan. Unfortunately for Steve, he hasn’t quite figured out that the people he’s charming aren’t exactly human in every sense of the word.Life can get lonely when your best friend is oblivious to the supernatural side of your life, so Bucky Barnes is in dire need of some feels. And guess who shows up to give them to him?





	1. The Ballad of Many Legs Part One

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first smut/PWP and I feel like I conquered a milestone. Ironically, it's also the longest thing I've written for this verse. Oops?
> 
> Thanks to the wonderful Faustess for being an awesome beta and cheering me up! 
> 
> Written for the Bucky Barnes Bingo 2019 Square Y-5: Bucky/Nat

In Bucky’s honest opinion, the supernatural community of New York held too little sympathy for its aquatically-inclined shifter population. Sure, he was perhaps a bit more slime and wriggling limbs than most people wanted to account for, but he was at least partly human damnit. If he wanted easy access to a body of water that wasn’t the stinky harbour, he’d have to sneak into the aquarium at night to borrow one of their tanks. Was it too much too ask for a nice, comfortable shifter-only pool?

Apparently so, since the Bucky’d had to resort to frequenting the local swimming club for an opportunity to stretch his many appendages. In the early hours the building was often all but devoid of human life, so the octopus-shifter usually took advantage of the fellow supernatural manning the security cameras to take a refreshing dip. 

Today, however, the pool was already occupied when he arrived. 

A woman glided gracefully through the water as he neared the pool’s edge. Her legs and arms were slender but they propelled her forward with little effort. It had been a while since Bucky had seen that much exposed skin, partially thanks to his efforts to get Steve hitched. (Earth faeries were known for their moves, but Steve had also obviously missed that particular bus, so Bucky had resigned himself early on to doing the heavy lifting for him.) Anyway, starved from female companionship as he was, the shifter was suddenly very hard-pressed to get rid of his body’s interest in his new swimming partner.

Hoping to shock the dawning arousal out of his system, lest the human woman think he was New York’s biggest creep, he quickly dove into the water, causing waves to splash against the walls. When he came up again, she had turned to watch him with the expected amount of wariness. Bucky shot her an apologetic grin and tried not to feel intimidated by those lovely, lovely green eyes.

“Good morning,” he croaked, cursing his own sudden lack of cool. Did Steve somehow magically steal his suave personality during the night? He’d not put it past the faerie. Tricksy little buggers, all of them.

A corner of her mouth curled up in amusement as she simply continued to tread water, and Bucky abruptly had the feeling she saw through the forced casualness of his greeting.

He cleared his throat. “I’m gonna swim some laps if you don’t mind.”

Without waiting for her response, he swiveled around and proceeded to swim away from the woman with swift butterfly strokes. Hopefully, his speed would carry him out of the range of her eyes boring holes into his back. Now, if only the warm tingle in the pit of his stomach would peter out…

It was not like he’d never gotten involved with human women before, Bucky tried to reason with himself, but he’d been putting off his shift for far too long now, and he didn’t want to risk going all ten-limbed in the heat of the moment. Apart from one human girl back in high school, he’d controlled himself pretty well, but one call on a sea witch for a memory wipe was one too many in his parents’ opinion. So Bucky tried his best to keep his appendages as far away from humans as possible. No exceptions for stunning redheads.

Something brushed against his legs and Bucky flinched, barely suppressing the urge to partially shift and lash out with a tentacle. He twisted to cast a look over his shoulder and was startled to discover the woman was swimming hot on his heels. With a playful grin, she splashed water into his face and passed him by with astonishing speed, gaining the upper-hand in a race Bucky hadn’t even realized they were participating in.

_ Well _ , he thought determinedly, the tingle in his gut flaring happily at her joy.  _ I can play dirty too. _

He let her reach the edge first, planning to catch up on the second lap. In the brief moment they were face to face, he winked exaggeratedly and poked her side. She shrieked and put some space between them. Still, she recovered quickly, allowing Bucky to put the second part of his plan into motion once her back was turned. One thing to keep in mind when you’re confronted with an aquatic shifter of unknown origin: octopods are naturally resourceful creatures prone to mischief.

Momentarily touching the cool wall, Bucky submerged himself completely and give into the exhilaration of the shift, exchanging his pair of legs for a much handier octuplet of arms. He kept his top from shifting, though, just in case the woman would look back to see why he was lagging behind. With help from his tentacles, Bucky shot forward through the water, zeroing in on the busily kicking legs of his opponent. He took his time to admire the working of the strong muscles under her skin as she neared the finish line. He could almost taste the triumph radiating from her. His appendages clenched deliciously at the sensation.

Gods, he must be hungrier for it than he thought.

Shaking his head to clear it, Bucky dismissed the partial shift, regaining his legs and hooked an arm around the woman’s waist, dragging her back from where her fingertips had almost touched the stone.

“Gotcha,” he grinned, evading the enraged flail of her arms and legs as he tapped his own arm against the edge. “I win.”

With an exasperated huff, she pinned him with those terrific blue eyes of hers. “You sure did, champ.” Her voice held a slight accent, doing nothing to damp his body’s excitement. “So much for gallantry these days.”

“Hey,” He released his hold around her waist, hoping to put some distance between her and his overeager anatomy. “You did awfully well back there.”  _ For a human _ , he didn’t say. “Any training?”

“I enjoy deep-sea diving from time to time,” She didn’t back off, Bucky realized desperately, she even seemed to be drifting closer. “Go to the harbour club and ask for Natasha, if you want to get a bit more adventurous than the local swimming pool.”

Natasha, a sweet name for such a sharp woman. “I’ll keep that in mind,” he promised, swallowing hard as she rested one of her fine-boned hands on his arm. Her darkened gaze flitted up to the bob of his adam’s apple and Bucky didn’t know anymore if he wanted her to back away or jump into his arms. 

So, he did nothing, just stood there frozen as she devoured him with her eyes. Finally, she let them linger a bit longer than necessary on what rested beneath the waterline, making him twitch anxiously as he mentally checked if his shift had receded completely. 

“It’s adorable, you know,” Natasha broke the silence with a coy smile, inching impossibly closer. “How you get all flustered despite the fact that you stepped into a swimming pool without a stitch of clothing on.”

_ Huh? _ Confused, Bucky looked down, expecting to see the purple fabric of his trunks, but instead there was just...him. His erection proudly saluted the world, and more importantly the woman next to him, from underneath the water.  _ Fuck. _

He flushed bright-red and tried to sink deeper into the water, hoping she’d somehow forget that it was there, but Natasha followed him languidly, fitting her body seamlessly to his.

“Don’t you worry,“ she murmured huskily, looking up at him from her under her eyelashes. “I can appreciate your forwardness…” She paused, waiting for him to finally offer his name in turn.

“James,” he supplied breathlessly, drinking in the sight of her curves pressed against his chest. What did it matter that no one called him that but his mother, he wanted to hear it from this astonishing woman’s lips.

“James,” she repeated, pleased. “Do you perchance have someplace we could wash this awful chlorine off?”

“How do you feel about bathtubs?”

“Oh, they’re  _ glorious _ .”


	2. The Ballad of Many Legs Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From the swimming pool to the bathtub...
> 
> Written for the Bucky Barnes Bingo 2019 Square Y1: Bath/shower sex

The apartment was blissfully empty when they stumbled in, slamming the door closed behind them, Bucky wasted no time pushing Natasha back up against the wood. Their mouths met clumsily, teeth momentarily clacking together. With a hiss, Natasha pulled back from the kiss and grabbed hold of the back of his head, fingers curling through his hair. Bucky was incredibly grateful he’d let it grow out again, he groaned as she led him back into their battle of mouths. 

From the way she’d baited him in the swimming pool, Bucky had suspected her to be the kind of girl that liked to take charge, but when her tongue probed impatiently at the seam of his lips and promptly invaded his mouth as he granted her access, he ran all unexpected kinds of hot. He had a feeling that despite the fact that he had caged her in against the door, she truly held control over how they progressed.

Nipping sharply at his bottom lip, she reminded him abruptly of the moment he was ruining by overthinking. One of her hands dropped from his face and wormed its way under his shirt, rucking it up so she could dance her slender fingers over his stomach. She let out a pleased hum as she encountered his happy trail, following it down to the buckle on his belt.

“Get this off,” she panted and Bucky gasped at the sudden pressure of her hand on his crotch, making stars explode behind his closed eyes.

His hands trembled as he obeyed, fingers struggling to release the buckle. Meanwhile, Natasha tackled his shirt, popping his buttons with astounding dexterity. Her pupils were so dilated, he was almost afraid of drowning in the black pit of her desire. 

“Stay with me, James,” she scratched a long nail over down his chest, briefly flicking a nipple on the way down. He had his shirt off in a flash, tossing it over his shoulder to land on the ugly purple sofa Steve had dug up at a yard sale.

“I’m here.” He pecked her lips as he resumed loosening his belt. “Care to join me?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” she smiled coyly, drawing her blouse over her head quickly, revealing a wonderfully pert pair of breasts. 

He groaned as he suddenly realized why there hadn’t been any underwear in her pile of clothes at the pool. “You like going commando?”

“Perk of the job,” she replied huskily, already shimmying out of her tight jeans. Her eyes lingered on the bulge in front of his trousers, pausing as she looked up at him through her lashes and licked her lips slowly. “Not the only one either, I suspect.”

With a curse and a throb from his now hard member, Bucky kicked off his shoes and shucked his trousers. Natasha copied him item for item, the dark in her eyes reaching out to devour every bit of skin he bared. Gods, he wanted to return the favour badly.

Once he was free of the restriction of his clothes, he rushed forward, scooping her up for another hungry kiss and started backing up towards the bathroom. She threw her legs up around his waist in a vice grip and let out a pleased moan as the heat of him met hers. However, before he could proceed to slotting those two together, he’d have to fulfill his promise of giving his lady a tour of the bathing facilities.

 

They made it into the bathroom without any incident, Natasha’s mouth hard at work on his neck, making him go crazy with a litany of bites and little sucks. With a mewl of disappointment she detached as he set her down to perch on the edge of the tub. Bucky fumbled with the taps for a minute before she decided to release him completely, leaning back against the cold tile of the wall, following his every move with hooded eyes. It was like being watched by a very stern, and ultimately very sexy, commander. Bucky hoped he’d perform well under her orders.

Testing the temperature of the water stream with his hand, the shifter deemed it acceptable and turned back to the gorgeous redhead waiting to receive his attention. He would be crazy to waste the time during which the tub filled on anything but her, after all. And the octopus wanted to show her he had a few more tricks up his sleeve.

Bucky sunk to his knees and saw her eyes widen imperceptibly as he trailed a hand up her calf and thigh. “May I?” 

His voice sounded too hoarse to be considered sexy, but Natasha smiled like the cat who got the cream anyway. “Oh yes, please proceed.”

Pulling one of her legs up onto his shoulder, Bucky zeroed in on the thatch of red curls that so enticed him. He worked his way up her thigh slowly though, savouring her barely audible sighs as he pressed kisses against the sensitive skin. The smell of her arousal grew stronger on his approach and he nuzzled her curls to get a good whiff of it as he landed.

Not one to be denied for long, Natasha hooked her leg more firmly over his shoulder, pulling him closer to where she wanted him. With a grin Bucky obliged, flicking his tongue once over her little nub before pausing.

She moaned in frustration. “Don’t tease, you bastard.”

“Hey,” he cautioned her, eyes glinting with mischief and suppressed desire. “You sure you want a bastard to stick his tongue in you?”

“Absolutely. Her hand shot out, fisting his hair and Bucky’s hips involuntarily jerked forward against the cool edge of the tub. “Okay, okay, I’ll get on it.”

Slightly dazed by the pleasurable tingles spreading from his scalp downwards, he rededicated himself to the task at hand. 

Breathing in deeply, trying to contain his own desire for a few moments longer, Bucky buried his face between her thighs and licked a long stripe up her opening, teasing the soft tissue of her lips. She rewarded him with a silent full-body shiver, so he stepped up his game.

Flexing his tongue, he circled her clit once, twice, three times in quick succession, eliciting a needy whine from her. Natasha’s wetness was spreading from her skin to his and Bucky greedily chased the taste down to its origins, plunging his tongue fully into her opening. The first in a long series of moans fell from her lips as she rested her head back against the tile, exposing her long elegant throat where a hickey was blooming. 

With a hint of possessiveness fuelling him, it was easy to work his magic and his tongue grew like a restless force inside her. He alternated the maddening wriggle of his tongue with massaging her tense little nub and lapping at her folds until he had her at a fever pitch. She was all expectant tension above him as she finally keened her release at a last insistent roll of his tongue. Bucky wound her down gently, pressing a last feather-light kiss on her center, making her tremble.

A delicious blush of exertion had spread downwards over Natasha’s heaving chest by the time he withdrew from between her legs. He drew her into the cradle of his arms, planting a soft kiss on her open mouth. “You alright, sweetheart?”

She nodded, still panting, and latched her arms around his neck, so her forehead came to rest against his. For a few precious seconds the only sound in the bathroom was that of running water as he allowed her to come down from the high, satisfied to just hold her close for a bit.

Eventually, though, the problem between his legs once again grew difficult to ignore. His cock, excited by the close press of Natasha’s soft skin against his, throbbed with need, begging him to get on with the main event.

Giggling as she felt it twitch against her, Natasha bucked her hips against his and Bucky tried his best to bite back the groan, but a miserable noise still escaped his lips. 

“I’m good to go, champ,” she purred sweetly, tugging a wayward lock of his hair back. She certainly knew how to get his engines revving.

“Brilliant,” he gasped while attempting to put some distance between their hips. “Get in the water.”

She slid from his grasp in a fluid roll and sunk into the water like one of those sirens Bucky’s mom had always warned him about. He stayed his pursuit in order to drink in the sight of her milky skin disappearing under the waterline. He couldn’t wait to get his hands on more of that.

Once settled in the tub, she beckoned him over with a salacious grin. “Come on, James. You’ve been patient enough.”

Shrugging his shoulders as he joined her, Bucky muttered demurely: “The least I could do.”

“Your modesty becomes you.” With a splash of water that went over the bathtub edge, Natasha climbed into his lap and gave him a lingering kiss while she drew circles on his back. “But now I’d like to see some more action.”

A hand snaked swiftly down his chest and enclosed his cock in a tight grip which had him jolting forwards right into her hungry kiss. His moan was deftly swallowed up by the assault of her lips. Bucky felt like his soul was rising up high above him as she stroked him to full attention.

Finally, Natasha shifted her hips just so and allowed him to enter the sanctity of her body. Her warmth and tightness was all around him suddenly, stealing away his breath, and Bucky let his head fall to her chest with a sigh. Grateful, he let his mouth wander over a perked nipple, treating her breast to a gentle suckle. Natasha responded with a strong thrust of her hips, forcing him further inside her.

Gathering his wits, he started to move, bucking his hips up to meet hers, hands coming to grip her sides, so he could control the angle more. Her little cry of appreciation showed him that he’d found exactly the right place, so Bucky returned his attention to her bouncing breasts and quickened his pace until he had her begging for release. 

Feeling his own clawing up from his gut, he spend his last sliver of self-control to snake a hand between them and flick her clit. She shattered apart in his embrace with a sob, going boneless against him as he thrust through her climax straight into his. 

Suddenly, he had the aching desire to shift, just to wrap this incredible woman in his many arms and clutch her closer than humanly possible, entangling her legs with his. His entire being tingled with the need to give in to the urge, but he bit down on his lip hard to keep the shift down.  _ Not now, not here. _

Perhaps sensing his distress, Natasha stirred and regarded him dazedly. She collected a drop of blood welling up from his lip with a dainty fingertip, soft concern blooming behind her eyes. “What’s wrong, James?”

“Nothing,” he grunted, gently lifting her to let his member slip free, but holding her close again straight after. “I’m being an idiot.”

“That’s a good way of putting it,” an irritated voice piped up from behind the bathroom door. “What in the seven hells possessed you to leave the door unlocked? We could have been robbed!”

Horrified, Bucky recognized the approaching tempest that was Steve Rogers and stiffened momentarily. He knew what was going to come next and scrambled to shout, “Wait! No, Steve, don’t open…!”

Too late. The door flew open, hitting the wall with a bang.

Simultaneously, Natasha’s weight disappeared from Bucky’s lap and his arms fell empty to his sides. There was a sensation of many skittering legs as his redheaded lover seemed to dissolve down into the water. 

Horror forgotten in favour of surprise, Bucky stared into the water as a fragile-looking sea spider scuttled down to hide under the bend of one of his legs.

Fucking hell, Natasha was a shifter.

Laughter bubbled up in his throat, stopping an infuriated Steve in his tracks. The faerie had a blush high up on his cheeks, but Bucky reckoned it was more from anger than shyness at finding his best friend naked in their shared tub.

“What’s wrong with you?” Steve asked incredulously, when the shifter continued to laugh uncontrollably, marvelling at the feeling of delicate legs tracing patterns on his skin. “You should be glad I got home this early. If not, who knows what-” 

“Stevie, please,” Bucky begged as he tried to tamp down a last few giggles. Now that he knew the truth about the mysterious redhead, he wanted nothing more than for the faerie to vacate the premises as soon as possible. “You’re right, I was wrong, it will never happen again. Promise.”

Only slightly placated by that less than stellar apology, Steve huffed. “We’ll talk about this later, when you’re  _ reasonable _ .” 

Then he turned on his heel and slammed the door shut behind him with another loud bang. Bucky could hear him stomping off, grumbling under his breath all the while. 

For one long minute, he waited with baited breath for Steve to settle down in his bedroom at the other side of the apartment. It happened far too slowly for his taste, but finally he could hear no more sound from the living room and he was safe to draw the sea spider up onto his chest as he slid further into the water.

Natasha was a beautiful thing even in her aquatic form, all spindly, crystalline legs. He counted five pairs of them to match his pairs of arms and barely suppressed the shiver of delight at what future fun they could have in their half-shifted states. That was, of course, if Natasha felt comfortable ever seeing him again. There must be a good reason why she didn’t tell him before hooking up.

“It’s okay,” he said softly, tracing the dips and folds of her exoskeleton. “I like my girls leggy.”

Affronted, the sea spider shifter stabbed him with her probuscosis and Bucky swore he’d die before he let go of the wonder that was Natasha Romanov.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sea spiders are exactly what they sound like. Spiders that live on the bottom of the ocean (often colder waters) and have a crazy amount of legs. They're not too scary or gross if you want to look them up.


End file.
